Beauty in Her Death
by KingZhongmou
Summary: The fate of an innocent carpenter attacked in his home remains unknown as his eldest son escorts his family through a world they have never seen. The son must overcome his emotion as he trains with a girl to meet and slay the man who destroyed his family.
1. Chapter I, Verse I

**Beauty in Her Death  
>Chapter I - The Bloodening<br>Verse I - Intruder**

**Disclaimer: **All characters belong to the game Dynasty Warriors by Tecmo-Koei or the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong. All other unrecognisable characters and places were created by me or inspired by other members who have given me the permission to use their characters from other websites created by Koei or about the franchise of the game. In Author's Notes, I will only mention the names of characters and places created by other members and I will also name the member.

**Author's Note:** The character Chao Ji was given to me by my brother **LordMusashi**. It was a character he created that he decided didn't suit into his new story plans and was soon to delete him when I asked him for permission to use him in this story. He isn't involved in this verse but he is set to be used by the end of Chapter I.

**Story:**

He took the sheathed blade from the mantle and turned around slowly. There was someone breaking into his home. Their footsteps were inaudible but he knew that the man entering his house was there because he could smell fresh blood. The intruder was in the hallway. He stepped slowly and silently towards the door and prepared to listen to the noise. He was silent and the intruder was opening doors to find him. He was almost hidden from the intruder and he could hear the intruder breathing as he moved towards the door. Suddenly, a blade penetrated the door. The intruder could hear his baby son begin to cry, tears flowing down his cheeks and onto his neck. The boy's mother held the child in her arms as she crouched in a corner. Her sixteen year old son and her thirteen year old sister sat in the corner beside their mother. The father, still holding the katana tightly, prepared to slice the sword's point as it scruffled through the wood of the door.

"I smell you..." the intruder hissed, as he stabbed the sword into the wall faster. "I smell your blood."

He sniffed as he hard as he could. He was trying to become fearless, but truth be told, he had never wielded the katana before. It sat on the wall tied by the mantle just to look good. It was decoration. Had his oldest son not chosen it and begged his father to buy it, they would have no defense. Eventually, the intruder barged into the door. He slipped his hands into his inside jacket pocket and drew a key ring with many keys on its circle. He threw the key towards his wife and children and pointed at the wall beside the window. He didn't make a single noise. His mother, too startled to move, dropped the keys in fear. Her son grabbed them and rushed to the wall. He pushed the wall with all of his strength but nothing happened. Once or twice, he scratched his hand or his cheek on the brick and grazed himself. He then turned to the window and tried each key. He pushed them into the hole and twisted each one until he eventually found the right key. At that moment, the intruder smashed a large great sword through the door and began to slide it with all his strength to create a circle around the lock.

"Quick," his father ordered as his son gripped the bricks and heaved at the wall with his strength.

He pushed harder and harder until he mustered all of his strength and the wall budged and created a small hole between the bricks. He placed his fingers between the bricks and pulled them to either side of him until he created a large enough space to move through. To his amazement, there was a secret passage. His sister passed the baby boy to him and he hushed him by quickly strangling the baby until he was unconscious. He moved down the hallway with the baby until he was inaudible to the intruder, where he left the boy and returned to his sister, who was pulling her startled mother into the wall. He pulled her towards the baby as his sister grabbed the key which was still locked into the window. She then pushed the window open as far as she could before following her brother into the wall. He rushed back to hold the wall and signalled his father to join him.

"No," his father spoke. "I am going to remain here and fend the intruder off. Go... Wait..."

His father paused as he grabbed a small knife from his belt and cut his shirt open hastily. He then held his hand around his neck and pulled his chain from his neck. He threw it towards his son and then threw the dagger. "Keep them," he told his son as he held the katana. "Think of me whenever you think of them. Protect ourfamily, my son. Escape through the tunnel until you reach the water and place one of the keys into the hole in the wall. Escape there." He then grabbed his katana and looked towards the door which was almost loose. "And let the Heavens guide you, child." His father turned to the door to see the broadsword almost completing its semi circle around the lock. He widened his eyes in fright and lifted his katana. The door broke loose. The son heaved the bricks towards the wall and closed it and turned to run down the hallway, after ensuring the intruder wouldn't pass through. He left the fate of his father unknown but he listened in to hear.

He could hear the sounds of two blades crashing together many times but a quick swipe finished someone off. The person fell back onto the floor, blood tearing into the air and crashing against the bricks. A small piece of blood passed through the bricks. He couldn't tell who's blood it was but he hoped it was that of the intruder's for he couldn't bare to lose him. He closed his eyes and then turned to his family and followed their treks. He couldn't think about what happened or what soon would happen. He needed to pass through the passage and reach the hole in the wall at the end of the passage by the water. He had never been there, and did not know how he was to escape from there, but he knew well enough that he wouldn't die that day. He would survive this encounter with the intruder - but would his father?

**End Notes: **That is the final section of Verse I: Intruder.  
><strong>Recap: <strong>The father passed the key, his chain and his dagger to his eldest son to escape through a secret passage as an intruder broke into his house. His son escaped with his mother, sister and brother through the secret tunnel with only his father's instructions to follow.  
><strong>Questions: <strong>Will they escape or are they set to meet their doom? Why is the intruder breaking in? What does he want?  
><strong>Conclusion: <strong>The fate of their father and of the intruder remains unknown.


	2. Chapter I, Verse II

**Beauty in Her Death  
>Chapter I - The Bloodening<br>Verse II - Secret Passage**

**Disclaimer: **All characters belong to the game Dynasty Warriors by Tecmo-Koei or the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong. All other unrecognisable characters and places were created by me or inspired by other members who have given me the permission to use their characters from other websites created by Koei or about the franchise of the game. In Author's Notes, I will only mention the names of characters and places created by other members and I will also name the member.

**Author's Notes:** In this chapter, there are no characters or areas created by any other than me.

**Story:**

His treks in the forests and the woods around their home were long and tiring but he never bore from riding his horse between the trees or climbing the trees and jumping into the streams because he enjoyed the taste of danger. But this was far exceeding his limit. His treks now were leading him through a dark secret passage. He had to make his way without the use of light. He had to feel his way around. He had the chain his father gave him around his neck, and the keys and dagger attached to his belt. But he couldn't make it knowing that his father was going to be killed - or dead. He heard a chilling scream behind him and he knew it was that of his father. He smiled with the hope that his father was still alive. His energy still burned for much longer, but it did not aid the fact that he was trekking beneath the real world. He was under the soil. He could imagine if the soil collapsed above him and his family and buried them for many generations or dug up a thousand year later. He didn't want to think these things but they couldn't escape his head. How long would this journey take them? He could hear the muffled groans of his sister, who was clinging on to his shirt to find her way around as well. He couldn't feel both her hands, so he was sure she was guiding their mother too.

He cracked his fingers between his hands and paused. He was exhausted. It had only been two minutes here, but still, he couldn't stand this. He took a deep breath and then heaved. He continued to walk without speaking a word. His sister hushed her mother who was about to begin cursing herself. Eventually, he made his way through the tunnel for one half of an hour until he hit a wall. A small fraction of light shone onto the wall and blinded him. He span around and widened his eyes but finally realised that the tunnel had made a turn. He could hear the sounds of something rushing or somebody hushing as loudly as he could. He made his way towards the light. It was that moment that he realised that they were nearly out. He gave a breath of relief and rested his hand against the wall. He took a deep sigh and then, recovering a fracture of his breath continued to waltz speedily towards the light. And then it him! No one was shuffling around or hushing loudly. He could see as the noise closened towards him that, in fact, the rushing and shuffling was the sounds of water crushing against a lake below. He was on the other side of the forest where the waters belonged. He couldn't believe his amazement as he stared in fear and wonder of the waterfall that covered the exit to his escape. His awe was one that would never be destroyed by another sight. But another sound would.

"It's blocking our way out," his sister broke the silence with a truth that should've remained inaudible.

But he couldn't deny it himself. She was right. There was no way out. If they attempted to jump through the waterfall their bones would be crushed like a fist smashing against a wingless fly or an ant. He groaned to himself before remembering the words of his father. He must place the key inside the wall and escape from there. Perhaps his father had created a special mechanical system which made a slope or a staircase appear and avoid the water. His baby brother began to cry again. He proceded to silence the child like he had done with him previously. Before he could complete his procedure he paused. Once again, he gawped with the sight of the beautiful waters flooding the lake below. As soon as he had caught as much amazement as he could, he dashed to the wall and drew his belt. He sought desperately for a slot on the wall to place the key into but he couldn't find it. In the corner of his eye, he spotted a slot which accepted the key perfectly. He held the key and took a deep breath of air. He then twisted the key to the right and forced the key to complete a successful 360 degrees circle. He stared solemny into the key before pulling it out. For the first time since his father had given it to him, he looked at the key observantly. He noticed that it was nothing out of the ordinary. Just a rusty bronze key which opens things. He looked at the other keys and stared at them. He noticed that they too, were of the exact same appearance as the other key - even the rust was at the same place of each and every key. He then realised that the creator of the keys, presumably his father, created the keys to look like nothing out of the ordinary. He smiled at his father's ingenious. Little did he notice, his sister and mother prepared to make their way down the staircase.

He frowned in amazement. There it was - a staircase, shifting from the walls from the top to the bottom. A platform above their head had opened to make a pathway leading to the grounds beyond the lake so the water could avoid damage any one crossing the staircase above the grounds; grounds which he had never stepped foot on or even knew existed. Flowers budded from every area around for miles. He witnessed the amazement that shined beyond his imagination, the flames that ignited the passion in his heart. He gave a mischevious smile. Before his sister could make a move, he plugged the key from the wall and peered over the edge of the staircase. He could see a thirty metre fall which would probably break all of his bones. He took a step down the stairs and maintained his balance as he continued his way down the case. After about thirty paces, he realised it was as simple as walking down a normal set of stairs. He didn't have to worry about balance. He turned around to see his sister stepping each step carefully; their mother was simply strolling down them without worrying of the dangers before her. She took no notice that one wrong step - one twist of the ankle - would lead to her falling down or off the staircase and plummeting to her doom. He prayed to himself, hoping his father would survive or if not, his mother could recover from her state of shock. He knew that this journey would be a long and difficult one but one he would have to make.

**End Notes: **That is the final section of Verse II: Secret Passage.  
><strong>Recap: <strong>The oldest son passed through the passage using his hands as his only guide, not knowing where he was going. Eventually he found an escape which was blocked by the existance of a waterfall. Using his key, he opened a secret staircase and began his journey into a world he had never been to.  
><strong>Questions: <strong>Where will they go? Will they be able to escape to safety or are they facing an inevitable destiny of failure? Who was the intruder? Will he find what he was looking for? Is the father dead? Will the intruder find the family?  
><strong>Conclusion: <strong>The eldest son leads his mother, sister and baby brother to safety through the secret passage. The fate of his father and the intruder still remains unknown.


End file.
